The Ghosts of Christmas
by LMA
Summary: Steve learns the true meaning of Christmas
1. Default Chapter

The Ghosts of Christmas

The slam of the office door reverberated throughout the empty building. Steve paused in his darkened office to listen to the final vibration of sound die away before allowing himself to think again.

DAMN! This is just great. It was the night before Christmas and they were at a crucial point in a huge, high profile case and Dan had just walked out on him. The disagreement had started because Steve didn't see the need for Dan to spend an hour or two that evening playing Santa to the children at the Kanakua orphan's home. Worse than that, Danno had asked Steve to go with him and help! Here they were, right in the middle of the biggest drug bust in Hawaiian history and Dan wanted to take a break. Steve had tried to reason with him by pointing out that this was an exceptional time and that they didn't have an hour or two to spare, but Dan was of the opinion that two hours, even one whole day, (after all it was the night before Christmas) would not make a difference in the case.

"Steve, this case or some other case will always be pending. There will be lots of important cases but the future depends on more than just law and order," Dan had argued. Having made the commitment to the orphanage months ago, he wouldn't back out now at the last minute and at the risk of disappointing the children. It was bad enough that they were already short one Santa and he would have to visit both orphanages himself that night. He had wanted Steve to help and that only fueled the argument further. "Absurd!" Steve thought and shook his head.

Steve then tried the iron fist approach. It had worked in the past on his young lieutenant, but not this time. Williams grew quiet, turned on his heel and left.

Steve took a deep breath, trying in vain to get his breathing under control. Not ready to be calm yet, he threw the papers he was still holding down on his desk in frustration, opened the door to his lanai and stepped outside into the darkness.

Christmas in Hawaii always seemed so disconcerting in some ways. The weather didn't really change and there was something about palm trees with lights instead of evergreens that didn't seem quite right. The night air which usually calmed his nerves just served to agitate him further. Didn't anyone understand that he was trying the best he could to preserve this peaceful island paradise. And what was he going to do about Williams now? Williams was not shy about voicing his opinions, and he had clashed with Steve on numerous occasions in the past. Somehow they always managed to hammer out a solution; however, this time was different. The battle had interfered with work and Steve was tired of dealing with it. He would have to send Williams back down to HPD, find another recruit and begin training anew. There was no shortage of eager officers who wanted to join the elite police unit, but the thought of having to train someone was almost too much for him to bear. It would mean more work for him until the new recruit was operating at an optimal level, but he didn't see how that could be avoided.

His thoughts were interrupted by singing. Christmas carolers! Didn't anyone understand that important work had to be done even during Christmas?! He stepped back into his office and firmly shut the lanai door. No matter, he thought. He could handle this alone if he needed to. He had done it before Williams had joined 5-0 and he could do it again.

The now quiet office was illuminated only by the single desk lamp which cast a harsh light across his paperwork. Slowly, he sat back down at his desk. He was suddenly very tired. A quick nap would revive him for the rest of the night. Ten minutes, that was all he needed, he thought, as he laid his head onto his folded arms on top of the desk.


	2. Ghosts Chapter 2

Steve awoke to a small sound. It was the barely perceptible, distant tinkling of bells. He looked up from where his head was propped on the desk and saw a tiny ball of light in the corner of the office from which the sound appeared to be emanating. Strange, he thought, there was no lamp in that corner. He sat up straighter and rubbed his tired eyes. The light remained and even if there was a lamp there that didn't explain the bells, he thought.

"Who's there?" he asked at a loss for anything else to say. The light became bigger as if moving toward him and the sound of bells came closer as well. Steve stood up quickly from his desk disturbing the paperwork. "I said, who's there?" Steve asked again. The response was the sound of children laughing. Steve stepped slowly out from behind his desk and approached the light. It had moved from the corner to the center of the room and appeared to be hovering in mid-air. All sorts of strange and wonderful sounds emanated from the ball of light. He heard the sound of bells more clearly now, church bells chiming and was that jingle bells? Children were laughing and singing and there was this other sound; the sound of something crunching. He slowly reached up to try to touch the light.

Suddenly he was outside and it was cold. Not an unpleasant cold, but a brisk, pleasing cold he had not felt in a long time. The air smelt bright and fresh as only new falling snow could make it. He was in a brightly lit city square at night with snow falling softly all around him. It was beautiful. It was NY, he realized the city of his childhood. And, yes, it was just as he remembered it so many years ago. There was something special about NYC at Christmas. For a child it was a magical place. There were wonderful decorations in all the shop windows, animated scenes of winter wonderlands and santa's workshop complete with working toy trains which ran across the windows and even throughout the stores. Steve always marveled at the trains as a child, as many children did, and it remained one of his secret passions. For adults, NYC brought back all the memories of how magical Christmas felt as a child and how the world could feel full of wonderful possibilities.

Steve started to take in more of his surroundings. There were indeed jingle bells and that crunching sound was horses' hooves in the snow. The police department's mounted division had brought out the horses for this special night and were giving sleigh rides to all the children in the square. The sleighs were beautifully appointed with bells and ribbons and held numerous laughing children bundled under blankets. He watched one pass by closely seemingly oblivious to his presence. And then he heard it. He heard that unmistakable laugh. He swung around quickly and there, right before him was his dad. He could hardly believe his eyes. His dad had just finished loading up the sleigh with children and was getting ready for his swing around the square. And there, sitting proudly next to his dad in the driver's seat was himself as a child. Steve had not thought about these Christmas times with his dad in years but now all the memories came flooding back.

His dad had been a beat cop in NY. He worked hard to try to keep the city safe and to provide a good life for his family. He often came home tired from work and would just sit in his favorite chair, have a beer and listen to the radio. He didn't always have time or energy for little Steve who idolized his dad and the ground he walked on. When Steve was young he would often just sit quietly on the floor next to his father's chair and work on his coloring books or just day dream. Sometimes just being near his dad was enough. As Steve grew older, they saw less of each other and grew apart. However, Steve never lost the image of his dad as the tireless worker for justice.

On Christmas eve, however, his dad had been different. He never came home tired. He came home full of energy with a little fir tree that they would decorate with lights and paper ornaments, food for a feast and then the best of all, sleigh rides in the park for the children with Steve as co-pilot. The officers all looked handsome in their winter uniforms shepherding the young, and in some cases the not so young, onto the sleighs. Rich or poor, all children were welcome. There were fires with warm cider for the parents at various corners of the square and every once in awhile caroling would break out. And best of all Steve got to ride all night as co-pilot of the sleigh with his dad.

Steve marveled at the scene in the square. He saw his young self perched next to his dad, his idol, going round and round the square in a sleigh with real horses. Occasionally, his dad would even give him the reins to hold while they waited for children to embark and disembark from the sleigh. Young Steve was in heaven or as near to it as his mind could imagine. They rode until everyone had had enough and then the officers and their families gathered together for a last toast of cider by the fires. Steve had loved this time too. He would stand by his dad with the other men and listened to them talk about their work. Those conversations never ceased to fascinate him when he was young and he was anxious to listen again even now as he walked over to the group to ease drop. When he was young being included in these discussions had made him feel so grown up. He realized now just how much it had shaped his life.

The group broke up slowly. Young Steve and his dad took care of the horses and then as if to make the evening last a little longer, walked slowly home together through the snow. Steve watched as they departed. His younger self was now half asleep with his head propped on his dad's shoulder and a huge smile on his face. Surely, there were sugarplums dancing in his head on this magical night.

Steve sighed audibly as he watched the scene break up. It was a glorious time; a magical night. It brought so much joy to the children, cost very little and even probably reinforced good community relationships between the police and the people. But those were thoughts of the older Steve. The younger Steve knew only the joy of being close to his dad, his idol on Christmas eve.


	3. Ghosts Chapter 3

Suddenly, all was dark again. Steve was back in his office which was still illuminated by the single desk light. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust to the darkness. The square was bright, even at night, but the office was dark in comparison, even cold somehow. Steve blinked his eyes trying to readjust to his surroundings. Had he been dreaming? It had all seemed so real. Those had been wonderful times, but that didn't change the present. There was still an important case at hand that he had to attend to. The important things of childhood paled next to his current responsibilities.

He turned back to his desk, eyed his empty coffee cup and went to the outer office for a refill. The coffee was stale and strong but served to awaken his weary senses. He sat back down at his desk and began to straighten out his papers.

A loud noise made him look up to see that there was a bright light streaming underneath his office door. The noise was coming from the outer office and seemed to get louder with each passing moment. He had just come from there, he thought with annoyance, and everything was fine. What was going on now? He rose from the desk quickly, flung open the office door and stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't the outer office. Gone were the secretaries' desks, the teletype and office equipment. Gone were the cubicles where his men worked. Instead, there were children everywhere. Some were sitting on the floor on mats around a young female which Steve did not recognize. She was telling them a story and they were listening intently. Some older children were gathered around a very sad looking palm tree in a pot which they were attempting to decorate with lights and paper ornaments that yet another group of children were constructing with colored paper and crayons at some small desks. All the children were dressed neatly, if not fashionable or up to date. The room was sparse but functional, though compared to the square in NY it lacked a certain festive air. An attempt had been made to brighten the atmosphere with the presence of a small phonograph on the table in the corner which played Christmas music from scratchy records and a punch bowl nearby with what looked like egg nog inside. The glasses, however, were mostly untouched. Something was missing. The room seemed to have a pensive air punctuated by brief attempts at cheerfulness. The main door opened and Steve watched as the children looked up in hopeful expectation. All saw Duke Lukela come into the room. There seemed to be a moment of hesitation before the children offered cheerful "hellos and merry Christmases", as if they were expecting someone else to come through the door. Duke was a young HPD officer who Steve knew of by reputation and based on his record was inclined to like. After the perfunctory greetings had been exchanged, Duke motioned for the woman reading the book to come talk with him. She handed the book to an older child to continue reading and got up to meet Duke by the door. Steve realizing, that he once again could not be seen by the people in the room, moved toward the door so he could hear the conversation.

The blond woman spoke softly and hurriedly to Duke.

"So where is he?" she whispered to him in hushed agitation.

"He's coming" Duke replied. "He called me before I got off my shift to tell me to come over and let you know he was running late. He had to stop at the Diamond Head home first as they were minus a Santa and there was some sort of delay due to work that he wouldn't tell me much about, but he should be here any minute now. If I had known he would be this late, I could have played Santa myself."

"I hope he gets here soon", the woman sighed. "It would be such a disappointment to the children and especially to…" She did not have a chance to finish the sentence. There was a knock at the door and in popped Santa.

"Ho, ho, ho Mele Kalikimaka, Merry Christmas!" Santa proclaimed to all.

The atmosphere in the room changed immediately. The children all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door. To their delight, there stood a beautiful Santa Claus. He had a bright red suit and a beautiful silky beard. He was just the right width for his height and as all the stories said had twinkling blue eyes. Steve smirked. He'd know those eyes anywhere. Steve watched as a stool was brought out and Santa Dan sat down with his bag of goodies. One by one, old and young, the children came up to Santa. After a brief conversation and a joke or two each got a great hug and a wrapped package. The Christmas music suddenly sounded less scratchy, the eggnog was being consumed and even the sad Christmas palm looked brighter. Duke and the young woman stood in the back of the room and watched with satisfied delight. When all the packages had been given out and children were playing and comparing presents, Santa made his way to where Duke and the woman were standing.

"You had me worried" the woman said to Santa with a smile.

"You weren't the only one. I don't know how Santa makes it around the whole world in one night, I was having trouble making it from one end of the island to the other", replied Santa. "Oh and before I forget," he continued, "I believe there is one more package left in my bag." With a sly wink, Dan pulled out a small well wrapped box and handed it to her.

"Why, thank you ever so much Mr. Claus" she replied, accepting the package with some ceremony. She then planted a large kiss on Dan's cheek "And Merry Christmas to you too!" she added.

Before Dan could reply, one of the smaller children rushed to the woman and grabbed her legs in a big bear hug. "Miss Janet, Miss Janet, you should see what Santa brought me!" the young child shouted and with that dragged Janet away. Dan watched with amusement and satisfaction. The evening was a success after all.

"So Danny", Duke started, "what happened tonight? "I thought you were going to get Steve to help out?" Steve who had been listening and observing the scene, cringed at the question, and in anticipation of the answer.

"Well," Dan said, "to put it briefly I may need to be looking for a new job tomorrow." "Any openings in HPD?"

Duke looked at Dan in amazement. But before he could reply, Janet rejoined the group with an egg nog in each hand. She handed a glass to Dan and Duke.

"Will you be joining us tomorrow for the traditional turkey soup dinner?" she asked Dan with a smile.

Being always short of money, the orphanage often had to find creative ways to economize and turkey soup went much further and was cheaper than a whole turkey.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Dan replied, "but I think I'll dress more seasonally in an aloha shirt and shorts. I am dying of heat prostration in this outfit."

Dan paused to take a sip of his egg nog, trying not to get too much of his rented beard wet. As he surveyed the room, he noticed one, small red-headed child sitting rather quietly in a corner away from the rest of the children. It was Tommy who had just recently been orphaned and he was having a hard time adjusting to his new situation. Santa Dan excused himself for a moment and approached Tommy. Steve followed him.

"Merry Christmas, Tommy!" Santa said with a chuckle. Tommy looked up from the spot on the floor he had been studying and offered Dan a weak smile.

"Merry Christmas to you, too" Tommy replied politely. It was a half-hearted reply though Tommy was trying his best to be enthusiastic. But the first holiday without one's family was hard.

Dan knelt down in order to be face to face with Tommy. "You haven't opened your present" Dan observed gently.

Tommy looked at the small package on the table beside him. It was too small to have been what he really wanted which was a surf board. He didn't really expect to get such an expensive present, but still, being a child there was a fragment of hope that such a miracle could occur. After all, Christmas was supposed to be full of miracles.

"Go ahead and open the present" Santa coaxed. It was no secret that Tommy wanted a surf board and the gift committee had done their best to come up with a creative, cheaper solution.

Slowly, Tommy reached for the package and unwrapped it. He opened the box to reveal what looked like a bar of soap and a piece of paper fell out and floated to the floor.

"Tommy, I think you dropped an important part of the present," Santa said as he picked up the fallen piece of paper and handed it to Tommy.

Tommy opened the note and his eyes grew wide as he read, "Redeemable for 10 surfing lessons with Dan Williams" written in beautiful gold letters on the paper.

"Alright!" Tommy exclaimed as he jumped out of his chair and without his feet ever touching the floor wrapped his arms around Santa's neck, almost knocking Dan over backwards. Tommy realized that the "bar of soap" was actually surf board wax and he looked at the present in a whole new light. Dan placed Tommy's feet firmly on the floor and Tommy sped off to show some of the other children his present. Santa Dan straightened himself up and headed back to join Janet and Duke who had been watching nearby.

Steve remained behind, thinking. Well, perhaps he had been too quick to dismiss Danno's request. Perhaps, he could have taken an hour or two away from work to help. However, it had all turned out fine without his help and there was still the important drug case pending. That was still where his priorities lay.

The scene slowly blurred and faded. Steve found himself standing in the dark outer office. The office was the same as it normally was, though it now seemed a bit quieter and darker than it ever had before.


	4. Ghosts Chapter 4

Steve turned and slowly walked back into his office and toward his desk. He thought he felt a cold draft coming from the closed lanai door and it seemed as though some cold, invisible force was somehow impeding his progress. He forced himself forward and sat down at his desk.

He listened to the silence. His mind was playing an awful lot of tricks on him this strange night, he thought, as he looked down at the untouched paperwork. "Snap out of it!" he told himself sharply, as he started to reorganize the disheveled papers and pick up where he left off.

The silence was pierced suddenly and viciously by a terrible cry. Instinctively, Steve jumped to his feet. But where was the sound coming from? He listened more intently and realized that the single, horrible sound had softened to the rapid breathing and slight moaning of someone in pain, someone dying. "Danno?" he thought, not knowing why. The hairs on the back of Steve's neck stood up and the cold draft from the lanai door intensified. There was another moan. Yes, the sound was coming from behind him, from outside the lanai door. Steve turned quickly and bolted through the lanai door.

Instead of emerging out onto the balcony overlooking the street, Steve found himself in an HPD interrogation room. There, sitting sullenly at the table was a tall, gangly, redheaded kid. Facing him was a grim-faced Duke Lukela. Duke looked older than a few minutes ago and seemed worn and tired. The silence was thick. As Steve stood there, the silence continued and deepened. Steve noticed an item in an evidence bag sitting in the middle of the table between the kid and Duke. He was hesitant to move forward and get a better look at the item. Once again, he didn't know why.

Duke picked up the evidence bag and held it up so the young boy could see it. The boy did not look up. His gaze was fixed on the table. Duke finally spoke.

"What do you have to say about this?" Duke asked.

The boy did not answer.

"Tommy, look at me! How could you have done such a thing?" Duke tried again, his voice rising in volume with agitation.

Still no answer.

Steve's mind started to whirl. Tommy? Could this really be the Tommy from the orphan's home? The kid who was so excited about the surfing lessons? It wasn't possible. It had to be someone else.

Steve took a step closer and forced himself to look at the item in the evidence bag. It was a knife with a nasty-looking, curved blade. It had what looked like blood all over it. Steve stepped back abruptly as if he had been hit.

Duke put the knife down. "I guess there really isn't anything you can say", Duke said coldly, his voice now lacking emotion except for the slightest hint of contempt. "This is the weapon without a doubt and your fingerprints are all over it. Even if you had some sort of explanation, it would make no difference. Tonight you killed during the course of a robbery. In all probability, you will be tried as an adult and either sentenced to life in prison or death. I'm not sure which is worse; dying or spending the rest of your life in prison thinking about what you have done."

Duke pushed his chair back from the table in disgust, got up and left the room.

Tommy did not look up at Duke's departure but continued to sit there, unmoving, as if made of stone. Steve moved closer to the table again. "What have you done!" he shouted at the boy. There was no response. "Are you the little Tommy from the orphanage I saw earlier this evening?" Or was it earlier in time? Steve pounded his fists on the table in frustration realizing that the boy could not hear him. No one could hear him. His eyes were drawn to the knife. It was a cold hard thing. Who could tell him what was going on? How could he find out what had happened?

The cold air stirred again. Steve looked up from the table as the draft hit his face. A new door which Steve had not noticed before had appeared on the other side of the room. Steve was afraid for reasons he didn't understand, but he approached the door, nonetheless. There were funny sounds coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like a hospital. There was the beep of a heart monitor and the sounds of doctors and nurses working in urgency. The heart monitor sound was irregular as if they were having trouble stabilizing the patient. The sound changed from the irregular heart beat to a continuous single tone. Steve could stand it no longer and burst through the door.

The emergency room was empty except for two orderlies cleaning up. There was blood everywhere and on everything; sheets, gurney, discarded rubber gloves and surgical gowns. The heart monitor had been disconnected and there was no sign of the unfortunate patient.

The two orderlies talked as they worked. "What a mess" one said to the other.

"What a shame for something like this to happen on Christmas eve" was the reply.

"I haven't seen this much blood in a long time. Looks like they couldn't stop the bleeding. Do you know what happened?"

"I heard it was a knifing. An HPD officer interrupted a hold-up and was knifed by a young kid. Seems as though the officer knew the kid too."

"Would have thought that the cop would have been more careful especially, seeing that it was a known troublemaker."

"Well, apparently, the kid hadn't been in trouble before and had been close to the officer at one time."

"The unkindest cut of all, eh?"

"That's a terrible thing to say, but not far from the mark". Giggling the orderlies moved away.

Steve started to look frantically around the room for some clue as to the identity of the patient. Did no one grieve for this unfortunate loss of human life and for the young life wasted? Steve looked for items near the gurney, personal effects which might have provided a clue to the victim, but found none. Would no one tell him who the victim was? In frustration, he swept the surgical instruments sitting there off the table toward the wall.

The instruments never hit the wall; before that could occur, the room and all its contents faded to become a cold, dimly lit, stainless steel room. It was a vast room with no visible door. It was lined with endless rows of stainless steel cabinets with handles. The morgue, thought Steve with a shiver, but unlike any he had ever seen. At the far end, there were two small figures standing before one of the drawers. They were two grown men framed in light as though illuminated by a single invisible light bulb, but were so far away from Steve that they looked small. One wore a suit and the other wore a white coat. Steve started toward them. The drawer was pulled open, and upon the nod of the suited man a sheet was pulled back. Steve seemed only slightly nearer now than when he started. He picked up his pace and began to run. The suited man looked down at the body and slowly, reluctantly nodded his head.

Steve was near enough now to see that the man in the suit was an elderly, grey-haired Chinese gentleman. It was one of his men, Chin Ho Kelly, but much older and more worn than when Steve had last seen him earlier that evening. The sheet was replaced. Chin bowed his head hiding his watery eyes in his hand and wept.

"Chin!" Steve called out. But Chin could not hear him. Before Steve could reach them, the drawer was closed and they vanished. The light faded.

Steve came to a dead halt. There were so many drawers in front of him. Which drawer had they been looking in? The coldness had intensified and seemed almost to solidify behind him. Steve found himself being pushed toward the wall with the drawers. Or was the wall being pushed toward him? Steve had not physically moved an inch, but suddenly one of the stainless steel drawers was right in front of him. In fact, it was the only one visible now. The unseen coldness gripped his arm and raised it toward the drawer handle. Steve tried to resist but to no avail. It forced his hand to grasp the cold handle and pull. As the drawer opened Steve wanted to close his eyes but could not. He was pushed to the side of the drawer and forced to look down.

There was no sheet covering the body this time. Immediately visible, as the drawer opened, was a face, deathly pale with closed eyes. It was Danno as Steve knew it would be but had not wanted to admit to himself before now. He looked pale beyond death and his hair had grayed prematurely. His face was gaunt and drawn. Steve put his hand down and touched Dan's cheek. It was so cold, so dead.

Steve could stand no longer. He sat down hard on the cold steel floor, put his head in his hands and wept as he had never wept before. An intense pain seared through his body. Time seemed to stand still as his tears formed an endless river of sorrow.


	5. Ghosts Chapter 5

Slowly, imperceptibly the room became warmer and the light of the dawning day tugged gently at Steve's consciousness. Steve opened his eyes to find that his head was lying on top of his folded arms on his desk. He sat up. He was in his office behind his desk. The desk light was still on, but now the office was filled with the soft glow of the early morning dawn. He must have spent all night here or was it longer? He looked at the papers on his desk. It was still the drug case he had been working on but some of the ink had smeared and the papers looked as though they had sat out in light rain as they contained numerous dried water spots.

He could smell coffee brewing in the outer office. He rose from his desk slowly and stiffly and made his way to the door. He hesitated before opening the door to the outer office unsure of what he might find there. Ignoring his trepidation, he slowly opened the door and peered out. Everything seemed normal. The desks were there and the cubicles. Someone had put up a pot of fresh coffee. It had just finished brewing and filled the office with a wonderful aroma. Just then, Chin Ho turned the corner coming out of his cubicle, heading in the direction of the coffee pot. "Chin!" Steve exclaimed with joy. Chin stopped in his tracks and stared at Steve. Chin looked no different than he had at work the day before. He was not grey and haggard as when Steve last saw him, though he did have a look of surprise on his face at the unexpected greeting. "Chin!" Steve proclaimed again and headed toward Chin and gave him a big bear hug.

"Boss, are you o.k.?" was all Chin could think to say. Never had he received such a greeting from his boss.

Steve released Chin and held him at arms length. "Well, that depends", Steve thought out loud. "What day is it?"

"Why, Christmas Day", Chin replied in puzzlement.

"Marvelous!! Wonderful !!" Steve exclaimed and gave Chin another hug. O.k., Steve thought he still had time, but he had to move fast. He was getting ready to turn and walk back into his office when a thought stopped him. He turned back "Chin" he asked "why are you here?" Before Chin could come up with an answer, Steve continued "Go home, be with your family, Merry Christmas!" Steve gave Chin one more hug, turned him around and sent him out the door.

Steve raced back into his office and pulled out his rolodex. He found the number he wanted and dialed. "Aloha, Mele Kalikimaka" Steve said gleefully into the phone. A groggy voiced mumbled something on the other end of the phone. Steve had not looked at the time, it was still early, 7 am, but he didn't care. "Rise and shine, Nick," Steve continued. "I need a favor from you and I'm calling in all my markers. I need a Christmas dinner complete with turkeys, stuffing, potatoes, and pie delivered to the Kanakua orphanages; enough to feed everyone and still have leftovers." (Afterall, what was Christmas dinner without leftovers, Steve chuckled to himself.) The voice on the other end of the phone had clearly woken up and was protesting. "Yes, I know what day it is," Steve replied. "It's Christmas day, isn't it wonderful! Isn't it glorious, I haven't missed it. I know your restaurants are busy today, Nick, but I have complete faith in you and I'll take care of all the costs." There were sounds of grudging agreement on the other side of the phone and Steve gave addresses and directions.

With that done, he moved onto the next task he had in mind. He was so giddy he almost leapt for joy. He couldn't wait to see the look on the children's faces when the food arrived so he had to hurry with his other tasks so he would be there in time.

Steve peeked through the window of the orphanage. It looked much as it did last night. The decoration of the Christmas palm had been completed and people were setting bowls and silverware on long tables in preparation for the turkey soup feast. Everyone was cheerfully helping with the preparations. Steve was careful not to be seen. He wanted to come in with his load right after the food arrived. "Where were they?" he thought impatiently. "Time is a wasting." Just then two white vans pulled up to the doorway of the orphanage. Out popped handsomely appointed waiters. They filled trolley after trolley with dome covered platters. The waiters formed an impressive line and started toward the door. Steve crept back to the window to watch. It was wonderful to see the waiters enter the room and the shocked responses of the occupants. Dan and Janet approached the first waiter in the parade and blocked his path temporarily and talked with him, jointly. The conversation lasted but a few seconds and then they parted to let all the waiters pass. Waiter after waiter came in with whole roasted turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and pies of all sorts. The children were momentarily motionless with awe and then everyone started to set the table for the real feast. His cue thought, Steve.

Steve gathered up his packages and headed for the door. There was almost more than he could carry. Steve's knock on the door was barely heard by the occupants of the orphanage due to all the commotion with the arrival of the food, but finally someone opened it. As it happened, Dan finally went to the door and upon opening it was greeted with a cheerful "Ho, Ho, Ho". Dan's jaw dropped. He could barely see Steve behind all of the stuff he was carrying but he knew the eyes looking at him through the needles of the pine tree instantly.

"Steeeve!" Dan spluttered in amazement.

"Are you going to invite me in or just stand there?" Steve asked with an exaggerated scowl.

Dan stepped back and Steve burst into the room with his load. He had a real, live pine tree completely decorated and arrayed with lights, a new phonograph with a complete set of Christmas records and a bag full of toys and games. The children stopped preparing for the dinner momentarily stunned by the second miracle of the day. Dan helped Steve with the tree while Janet relieved him of the phonograph equipment and the bag of toys. Dan and Steve worked fast and in no time had set up and plugged in the tree. Everyone "oohhed" and "aawwed" at the beautiful blinking lights. Most of the children there had never seen a tree like this before or one as beautiful as this one. And they all came up to it and inhaled the pine scent. The music started playing and Steve turned and said, "Merry Christmas Everyone! Let's eat!"

Dan turned to Steve with a grateful, pleased though primarily puzzled look on his face. Instead of asking a question though, Dan simply said, "Thanks Steve, and Merry Christmas."

Steve turned to look at Danno. His eyes were still bright and his hair was not grey. His face looked young, optimistic and less careworn than in Steve's nightmare and he had a crooked smile on his face. It was the best Christmas present Steve could have received. He put his hand on Danno's shoulder. "Thank you for reminding me of the importance of Christmas," Steve said and he gave Dan's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

The orphanage had a feast to end all Christmas feasts that day. Everyone ate their fill of turkey and stuffing and dessert until they could eat no more. Then everyone gathered around the tree to play games until all were tired and ready for sleep. One by one, each child would bid good night to those still gathered and head for bed. Steve had just finished an energetic game of "Chutes and Ladders" with several children who were finally forced to admit that they were too tired for more. Steve picked up the pieces of the game, putting them back in the box and stood up looking around the room as he stretched. The tree was still lit and sparkled beautifully in the darkened room. A few of the older children, who remained awake, were cleaning up along with some of the adults. Most of the younger kids had gone to bed. Steve's eyes came to rest on a corner of the couch. There was Dan, who had been working overtime all week, fast asleep. Next to Dan on the couch was Tommy also fast asleep with his red head nestled on Dan's chest. The surfboard wax was in the box on the couch next to Tommy and the surfing lesson certificate was clenched tightly in his fist.

The record player was playing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Very appropriate, Steve thought as he listened to the words. _"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay."_ He noticed a blanket on a chair and picked it up on his way toward the couch. _"Remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day"_ Steve shuddered to think that he could have lost all this as he gently placed the blanket over the sleeping duo. So busy had he been, fighting for some greater good, that he had neglected and almost lost the important things around him. Somehow it was easier to fight to defend a noble abstract concept or give to a charitable organization than to deal with nearby people in need on an individual level. "_To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray." _ Steve knew that there was no guarantee that his efforts that day or in the coming days would avert the future he believed he had seen in his dreams or visions or whatever it was he had experienced that night. But unlike the game pieces which Steve had just put away, he vowed not to put Christmas back into a box until another year but to keep its spirit close to his heart year round. _"Oh, tidings of comfort and joy."_


End file.
